When the war is over by Jackie French
Ill. by Anne Spudvilas. Angus and Robertson, 2019. ISBN:
9781460753026.
(Age: All) Highly recommended. Themes: War, Australia at war, Peace,
Freedom, Education for girls. A powerful hymn to the end of all war
is sung in these multi layered verses by French, illustrated with
measured assurance by Spudvilas. From the first stanza, 'When the
war is over . . . You'll come back to me, to the last, Now the war
is over . . . You've come back to me,' the book presents an overview
of each of the wars Australia has been involved in, a four lined
poem responding to each war and its fighters, the illustrations
reflecting the immense toll taken on the returning soldiers and
their families.
Each has a reunion, a coming together of the soldier and his family,
a change for each person, a new beginning for most, perhaps a burial
for some. Turning the pages reveals a new war, a new ending, a
different reunion.
Between the first and last pages, readers will be emotionally
involved in the telling and the images, reflecting on the immense
cost that these wars bring to the population, thinking about our
nation being asked to send troops to places outside our area of
influence.
I found it hard to read without a tear, memories of relatives and
friends' actions in these wars reminding me of the futility of their
sacrifice.
But French tells us their sacrifice is justified if just one girl
can go to school with impunity, if one small space in the world is
free, even though that freedom may be like tissue paper, drifting on
the wind.
Readers will gain an understanding that war is ever present, that
Australia has been involved in many wars, and want to research the
ones they have not heard about. They will discuss the absence of war
and what can be achieved by places being at peace. This book reveals
a range of issues which could be debated in the classroom, but above
all it is about the ending of war.
Spudvilas' illustrations are simply superb, detailing instances in
families' lives when war is at an end, showing what this ending
means, a reunion and a new beginning. Her paintings are to be looked
over with a fine toothed comb, the details absorbed, the setting for
each so well defined. Readers will spend a long time looking into
the images created by Spudvials, perfectly complimenting the text on
every page.
Fran Knight